


Tony's Mama

by RueLawliet



Series: Mama Rhodes [2]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Gen, Tony Stark Gets a Hug, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, smol tony stark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-11
Updated: 2019-08-11
Packaged: 2020-08-19 08:43:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20206939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RueLawliet/pseuds/RueLawliet
Summary: When Tony Stark met James Rhodes, he never expected they would become best friends, and he certainly never expected to meet Rhodey's mother.





	Tony's Mama

**Author's Note:**

> Honestly, I love the idea of Mama Rhodes so much, I couldn't help myself. This is Rhodey's Mama from Tony's POV. I'll probably be adding more Mama Rhodes as time goes by, too. I love the idea of her being around for the other movies, and seeing what her view of things would be. So, keep an eye out?

When Tony Stark went to MIT, the last thing he expected was the room-mate that he got. He was already well aware that being at MIT so young wasn’t going to do him any favours socially, so he’d figured the best he could hope for was a room-mate that wasn’t outwardly hostile. Instead he found himself babbling an introduction to his new room-mate, who stared at him in bemusement.

Then, the guy blinked and introduced himself as James Rhodes.

\--

Some weeks later, Tony was still feeling a little out of his depth. Rhodes hadn’t been hostile, or dismissive, and hadn’t even ignored him. He listened to Tony’s rambling and disjointed science babble, understood a fair bit of it, and actually reacted positively to him.

The more Rhodes seemed to genuinely enjoy his company, and talking to him, the more Tony couldn’t help but become even more energised. Aside from Jarvis, _nobody_ had ever been interested in listening to his ideas before, but Rhodes seemed to find them fascinating. He was used to seeing people be surprised by his thought process and the things he came up with, but the genuine excitement (_and… pride?_) was fairly rare.

Rhodes also seemed to be mothering him a little. He’d drank more water, ate more vegetables, and slept more hours than he could ever remember, all since becoming his room-mate.

Tony still had his doubts about interacting with most people, if he was honest, but so far Rhodes had only ever seemed to care about him and his wellbeing. Even when he hadn’t slept for days and was barely coherent, he was still patient as he tried to help. So, one day, he asked Rhodes for help for the first time.

His head was pounding. His mind was racing, but at the same time his skull felt like someone had ripped his brain out and replaced it with cotton. Thoughts, ideas, and problems all repeatedly hurled themselves around his mind, only to get bogged down in the murky haze surrounding it. Every thought moved as though it was trying to wade through molasses, and he could almost _feel_ his brain overheating. He went to Rhodes, standing before him in misery, yanking on his hair as his eyes began to sting.

“My head's too full. I've got so many ideas, and there's so many problems to solve, and I can't... I can't focus!”

He stared blearily as Rhodes launched himself over to his bed, snatching the blanket on it. His eyebrows furrowed, but he stood still and complacent as Rhodes wrapped the blanket around him, and barely resisted squeaking as the older boy scooped him up and settled him in his lap. He felt arms come around him, and realised his room-mate was essentially snuggling him like a mother cat would its kitten. 

He blinked for a moment, the stinging in his eyes worsening, feeling his chin tremble. His face crumpled as the first tears began to fall, gasping sobs punching out of him. Normally, Jarvis would be the one to comfort him when his brain overloaded, but despite the fact that his room-mate had no obligation to help him through this, Rhodes just held him, stroking his hair and rocking slightly. He tried to explain how tired he was, how he could never just relax or feel at peace. How people would in one moment take advantage of his mind and the things he could do, before immediately dismissing him and his skills simply because they saw him as a child. Through it all, he felt himself begin to relax as there were no negative judgements from Rhodes, as he simply listened and comforted. 

He'd never been so thankful that James Rhodes was his room-mate. He couldn't think of anyone else aside from Jarvis who would actually care about him, his mental state, or how he was doing emotionally. He'd never imagined he'd have a friend that he'd let in, or a friend that was so caring and loyal, but here he was.

Tony sniffled, wriggling a little in his blanket. He tried for a smile, and thought he'd managed well enough for the sentiment to count. “Thanks, Rhodey.”

Far from showing any protest or dislike at suddenly being nicknamed, Rhodey smiled and nicknamed him right back. “Anytime, Tones.”

As Tony rubbed at his itchy eyes, he wondered if this is what it was like to have a brother.

\--

In December, Rhodey asked what Tony and his family were doing for Christmas.

Tony shrugged, not paying much attention. “No idea what they're doing. Some shitty gala, probably. I'm staying here.”

There was silence for a while, before Tony twitched, feeling the weight of two eyes on his back. He turned, seeing Rhodey staring at him with a horrified look on his face.

“What?”

Rhodey frowned, his eyebrows drawing together in bewilderment. “You're staying here.”

“Yep.”

“For Christmas.”

“Uh-huh.”

There was another long pause, and Tony began to wonder what Rhodey was thinking. It wasn't like going home would be in any way fun or festive. Jarvis was always given the holidays off and temporarily replaced so he and his wife could spend their Christmas together, and he sure as hell didn't want to spend time with his parents. Especially not his father. He blinked back to reality.

“Oh, _hell_ no.”

\--

A few days later, and Tony was pretty sure he'd stepped into a parallel universe. He stared at Rhodey, fairly sure he'd heard incorrectly, and Rhodey stared right back, one eyebrow slowly rising.

“Rhodey, I think I'm hallucinating again. I could've sworn you'd just invited me to spend Christmas at your house...”

He watched Rhodey cross his arms, eyebrow raising even further. “You aren't hallucinating, I really just said that.”

“Oh.”

There was a pause as Tony contemplated Rhodey's spectacularly judgemental eyebrow.

“Why?”

Rhodey let out a little huff. “Firstly, nobody should be alone on Christmas. Secondly, you're my friend, and I like you. And thirdly, I want you to meet my mama.”

Tony didn't bother to hide his surprise, until he accidentally smacked himself in the head with a wrench trying to scratch his head. He rubbed at the spot gently, eyes watering. “You want me to meet...”

“My mama, yeah.”

Tony attempted to process this, but wasn't actually sure why the hell Rhodey wanted to introduce him to his mother. Maybe she had something that needed fixing? He couldn't think of any other reason, but it seemed odd to have him stay for the duration of the holidays just to fix some sort of appliance. “Again... why?”

Rhodey smiled, rolling his eyes. “Because I've told her a lot about you, and that you're my best friend, so she wants to meet you herself.”

Tony froze like he'd been turned to stone. He didn't realise Rhodey would have talked about him to his mother, though he supposed that's the kind of thing people tended to talk about. Maybe she wanted to meet him to see if he was a bad influence, or something? He couldn't imagine that whatever Rhodey told her about him was particularly comforting. His eyes widened as he realised he was paying attention to completely the wrong parts of Rhodey's sentence. “I'm your best friend?”

Rhodey slung an arm around his shoulders, giving a squeeze. “Obviously. Who else?”

Tony was silent for a long moment, surprised and... pleased. People didn't normally like him much at all, let alone count him as a friend. Sure, some people tried to suck up to him because he was a Stark, but they never really cared about him in particular. The people who didn't suck up to him tended to write him off as a useless rich boy, or assumed that he was an arrogant shit with no brains to back himself up. To hear that Rhodey, who could get along well with nearly anyone, counted him as his best friend?

Tony smiled, genuinely and thankfully. “Yeah, okay... thanks, platypus.”

Rhodey snorted at him, probably confused by another new random nickname. “You're welcome, nerd.”

–

Rhodey drove them to his mother's house, frequently stopping for Starbucks and snacks. The stereo played cheesy Christmas songs, Tony occasionally belting out whatever words he knew or liked best. He waggled his eyebrows at Rhodey, as one song finished.

Rhodey grinned, side-eyeing him playfully. “Why am I not surprised that you love cheesy Christmas songs?”

Tony raised an eyebrow, tilting his head slightly. “What's that supposed to mean, Rhodey-bear?”

“I'm not surprised, because you're the king of tacky, Tones.”

Tony laid a hand on his heart, gasping dramatically as though Rhodey had stabbed him through the heart. “Sourpatch, how could you say that?!”

As Rhodey laughed, and their conversation turned to their usual friendly bickering, Tony thought that for all his parents preferred to travel by private jet, he'd much rather be sat beside his best friend in his crappy old car.

–

Tony watched Rhodey hug his mother, fidgeting just a little on her doorstep. He still wasn't entirely sure why she had wanted him to come, but he'd dutifully come along anyway. Rhodey towered over her, but she looked anything but frail or delicate. As their hug ended, Rhodey turned to look at Tony with a smile. “Mama, this is Tony Stark, my best friend.”

He still wasn't used to hearing that, but Tony couldn't deny it gave him warm fuzzies. It was nice to have his friendship claimed by someone. Rhodey's mother ran her eyes over him, a smile on her lips, and the lines around her face creasing in a way which told him that smiling was her usual state. He straightened as she stepped up to him, and then felt his eyebrows try to reach for his hairline as she gently wrapped her arms around him in a warm hug.

She smelled of citrus and spices, and gave him a little squeeze. “It's wonderful to meet you, Tony. Just call me mama.”

Slightly startled, Tony looked over at Rhodey, seeing only warmth and a smile on his best friend's face. He blinked, and brought his arms up to carefully return the hug. His own mother was aloof and generally never affectionate unless it was for a photo opportunity, and he hadn't called her anything but 'mother' since he was very small. And yet the woman hugging him was inviting him to call her 'mama'. And Tony was in no way stupid, and recognised that what she was actually doing was inviting him to call her and _think of her_ as his mama.

He breathed through the pangs in his chest, and closed his eyes. “It's good to meet you too... mama.”

–

Tony felt distinctly out of his depth. 

It wasn't that he didn't like mama Rhodes, he just had no idea how to interact with someone like her. His own mother tended to forget he even existed, unless there was a bragging opportunity to be had, so he wasn't exactly used to someone listening to him so attentively. And people were only ever tactile when they wanted to suck up to him as a well-known rich kid, the only exception being Jarvis, and then Rhodey. And now mama Rhodes. She'd set down a glass of milk for him, and put a plate of cookies on the table, and then stroked his head as she went to her own seat. Stroked his head! 

She settled into her seat with her own glass of milk, nodding at the plate meaningfully. “You boys help yourselves, now. You're both far too skinny!” She snagged a cookie for herself, and smiled at Tony. “Now then, James tells me you're interested in everything from sustainable farming to artificial intelligence. I'd love to hear some of your ideas, sweetie.”

Tony fumbled for a moment, before deciding to tell her about his idea for an artificial intelligence. Basically a glorified claw on a strut, but fitted with a learning AI. As he gained momentum, and as mama Rhodes continued to look interested and even asked questions, he became far less hesitant. He found himself slipping slightly into manic genius mode, which tended to irritate people, and he found himself apologising for once, having no desire to turn this particular person away by being his usual self. 

Mama Rhodes promptly told him that it was important to have passion and love for what you do, and to never be ashamed of it, because only an idiot would make you feel bad for it.

He couldn't help but stare at her for a moment, unable to really think of a response.

Mama Rhodes smiled, gently patting Tony's hand. “You're such a smart boy, Tony. I truly believe you'll change the world someday.”

His eyes began to sting slightly, his throat dry as he blinked at her. One of the kindest people he'd ever met, the woman awesome enough to raise a guy like Rhodey, who immediately accepted him into her home and apparently even her family... and she thought he could change the world. Tony had never met anyone like her. People always told him that he needed to live up to his father's reputation, to design powerful weapons just like Howard, to do the Stark name proud. Nobody ever cared about what _he_ was interested in, what made _his_ blood sing. 

Mama Rhodes thought his silly little AI project was worth doing. She had listened as he'd babbled on about alternative applications, the future of AI, and the advancement of technology, and seen something worth believing in. In that moment, he decided he'd make his idea a reality, as soon as possible. He'd create his very own AI, and it would learn. He looked at the wonderful woman sitting opposite him, and truly smiled.

“Thank you, mama. I hope so.”

-

Years later, after fighting between the expectations of the public and his vision of the future, he stood at a podium. His gaze swept over the press arrayed in front of him, honestly not caring what they thought about what he was about to say. They fawned over him, ridiculed him, dismissed him, brought him up only to tear him down, and all on a whim. Now, they were going to see who he really was.

“The truth is... _I am Iron Man_.”


End file.
